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NAACP President on Broadway for Concert For America on Inauguration Day

NEW YORK – NAACP President and CEO Cornell William Brooks will be absent from Washington DC on Inauguration Day as he attends multiple events with artists and activists in New York City tonight and Friday.

Brooks, an attorney and minister who has led the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights group since 2014, will instead attend the “Concert for America: Stand Up, Sing Out!” charity concert featuring performances from Broadway’s top stars at 3 p.m. Friday at the Town Hall Theater, 123 W. 43rd Street.

“From the visceral slave songs, to the Negro spirituals, to the ethereal hymns, to the improvisational jazz, to the emotion of Broadway’s greatest works, music is the language of our humanity,” Brooks said. “Our values are translated by our art in ways that inspire and instruct. This is a moment in which America so needs to sing so that we might stand, and stand for what is right.”

More than 32 stars will be part of the concert, including Bebe Neuwirth, Caroline Rhea, Ben Vereen and Javier Munoz. Proceeds from the sold-out show will be donated to the NAACP, as well as Planned Parenthood, National Immigration Law Center, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Sierra Club.

The NAACP is one of many national groups that are re-uniting and mobilizing to counter threats to civil rights posed by the incoming administration. NAACP members recently led sit-in protests in Iowa and Alabama opposing the nomination of Alabama senator Jeff Sessions for Attorney General, and are launching a new phase of organized resistance against discrimination, voter suppression, hate crimes and racial and religious violence as thousand of new members are joining the organization.

The NAACP President will also be in New York this evening to attend the United We Stand Rally at Columbus Circle from 6 to 8 p.m. with celebrities and activists protesting the incoming administration.

Brooks and NAACP members will be back in Washington DC on Saturday to lead a youth rally at 9 a.m. before joining with the Women’s March on Washington later that day.

Today's #BlackHistoryMonth highlight: The @NAACP's vision is to ensure a society where all people have equal rights without racial discrimination. We strive to empower those who are dedicated to improving our world! To learn more about this #org, visit: https://t.co/Ec7MQZEScg